We recently chatted with long-time user (and big-time fan) of LastPass, Leona Fish, from Oklahoma. We loved the story she submitted for our recent #LoveLastPass Giveaway, and wanted to share her insight with new and long-time users alike. In our conversation we explore how she uses secure notes to help her parents, and even how she prepared her own digital will:
Tell us a little bit about how long you’ve used LastPass and where you first heard about us.
“I’ve used somewhere in the neighborhood of ten different types of passwords managers. Currently I’m a registered nurse. But many years back, I helped the hospital IT department build out their electronic medical records and I started having to remember many different system passwords. I went right to the Internet to search for a password manager that would help me remember all of these passwords.
Even back then I was using multiple devices. Of all the password managers I tried, I always went back to LastPass because of the portability across platforms. I could use LastPass on my desktop at work, or my iPod Touch at the time (now my iPhone). I could even log in from home - and this was before the Firefox and Chrome plugins. Once I had LastPass, I never had a problem remembering my passwords, and I was never concerned about the security.”
Besides work passwords, do you save personal information in LastPass?
“Yes, I keep all of my household and family passwords in LastPass. And in secure notes, I have my drivers license, credit card numbers, both of my parents’ drivers licenses, bank accounts. Whatever I might need to refer back to, I put it in a secure note. I’m always surprised how many times that I need my drivers license. While I usually have it with me, it’s usually in my car, not on my person. Same thing with my credit cards - I don’t always carry my cards with me.
With my licenses and bank accounts, I rarely put that information anywhere else, and when it’s in LastPass, I don’t have to worry about it. It even helps with my family. When I’m at my mom’s house and she is trying to figure out her password, I look in my vault to see if I have it and I usually do.”
Sounds like just about everything is in LastPass. Is there anything that’s not in there?
“No. In fact, I created a folder of my passwords called ‘upon our death.’ I have one child that has access to this folder and I’ve told them, if we die, you need to log in to LastPass and in that folder, you’ll find information about our life insurance, 401(k)s and everything you’ll need. We’ve known a couple of people recently that have had difficulty getting access to parental information. It’s nearly impossible.”
Your enthusiasm for LastPass is quite contagious! Have you recommended LastPass to anyone recently?
“I’m a big proponent of LastPass because it’s such a great application. When there is an application that makes your life easier and I don’t have to worry about the security of it, it’s hard not to be. There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t mention LastPass to a friend or a family member. My parents are in their 80s and when my dad was still alive, he had a sheet of paper on his computer with all his passwords. I told him, ‘Dad. Stop. If you can use a computer, you can use LastPass.’
It’s taken me awhile to convince my husband - I’m probably 10 years ahead of him. We would go on vacation and without fail, he would have to log in to something and his password would be at home or at work on a piece of paper. ‘You have to use LastPass,’ I would tell him. “
Have you had any ‘save the day’ moments with LastPass?
“I can’t tell you a specific moment, but I often think, ‘I’m so glad I have this!’ Actually, just this week, I was getting ready to start an online meeting at work and my password was not working. It wasn’t what I thought it was when I typed it in. So I pulled up my online meeting account quickly on my phone, saw the password, and logged right in. I was able to start the meeting right away.”
We want to thank Leona for her #LoveLastPass contribution and for talking with us about her life with LastPass. If you have a LastPass story that you’d like to share, just contact our team. 
